When toll road traffic flows fall short

The bankruptcy of the first public-private highway venture in Texas has put a new focus on the inexact science of traffic-flow projections. The debate over the risks of toll-road revenue forecasting will continue in Texas and other forums, as the private-sector concessionaires of the state Highway 130 sections in default have turned over ownership to lenders. SH 130 Concession Co., operators of the 41-mile southern section of the state-owned Highway 130 toll road between Austin and San Antonio, have filed for Chapter 11 protection in US Bankruptcy Court in San Antonio in 2016, with a reported debt of more than $1.6 billion.